This one arrived too late for the book page calendar: Quarter Moon Books, 708 S. Anderson Blvd. in Topsail Beach, is throwing a “holiday hen party” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, to celebrate the launch of Susan Whitfield’s new novel, “Slightly Cracked” (CreateSpace, $13.99).

Whitfield is a Tar Heel author, a guest at this year’s Cape Fear Crime Festival, and the creator of the Logan Hunter mystery series (“Genesis Beach,” “Hell Swamp,” “Sin Creek,” etc.), She also wrote a mystery-gourmet book, “Killer Recipes.”

“Slightly Cracked” is Whitfield’s first venture into the realm of “chick lit” (although there is a little mystery involved). It follows two BFFs of a certain age — Daisy Marie Hazelburst, an electrologist, and Mackie Sue Beanblossom, a school principal, who get into all kinds of off-the-wall situations.

About This Blog

This is an emporium for all things literary: occasional book reviews, local book news, items about authors (mostly from the Cape Fear area but occasional visitors) and miscellaneous rants.

The usual author is Ben Steelman, feature writer and book columnist for the Star-News. He’s that shaggy, slightly smelly character you spot lurking in the back aisles of your local bookstore. Physically, he has more than a passing resemblance to Ignatius J. Reilly, hero of John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces” — some observers have noted other parallels as well.